Whangaroa Big Gamefish Club Tournaments and Contests
Vintage Craft Take to the Waters in Aid of Local Mobile Clinic
On 31st March and 1st April the Whangaroa Sport Fishing Club will be holding its Classic Boats Contest. The contest is held for anglers to fish from marine vessels 40 and more years old which this year is pre 1972. It is a great opportunity to see these old gals do their stuff on the waters and also a chance for them to take part in raising funds for the mobile clinic which is operated by Whangaroa Health Services Trust in Kaeo. The contest has been held for many years now and has always managed to make a sizeable donation towards this facility. The clinic has been in operation since 1998 and operates 2 days per week serving several communities in the Whangaroa area. The clinic provides a doctor and nurse, for services such as consultations, prescriptions and immunisations. The clinic’s operation is being reviewed in July to ensure the service continues to target those communities most at need. It is an important aspect of the health care in Whangaroa, and the Classic Boats Contest, the marina, the fishing club and the community strive to raise as much as they can annually to help fund the clinic. This year we want to do better than ever so come and join in the fun at the club, all monies raised from the contest are donated to the health trust for the clinic. You could bring your vintage boat along, or you could find someone to fish with, or just come along for the entertainment, raffles and lucky draws. There will be some old fishing paraphernalia and photos from many years ago, on display. We would be very interested if you would like to bring along any fishing memorabilia or photos you may have at home for us to have a look at too. The contest has been supplied with prizes this year from International Paints and Burnsco Marine and Leisure, along with many other donations. There are three sections to the contest; gamefishing, line-fishing and tag & release, each with their own trophy to win. There will be lots of prizes as well, and we hope to see you very soon down at the club in the Whangaroa Harbour for this classic fishing and fund-raising event. The briefing and registration night will be held at the club rooms on Friday, 30th March at 7.30pm. Briefing notes and entry form can be downloaded from the clubs website at www.whangaroasportfishingclub.co.nz, or contact us at the club on 09 4050399.
Ladies of the Deep
Ladies arrived at the Whangaroa Sport Fishing Club for their annual fishing contest and a chance to catch a fish and show the men how it is done, and have a fun time as well. On the evening prior to fishing the boats were auctioned off by Mark Lambert for the chance for a boat’s buyer to win the cash raised for the heaviest striped marlin landed during the contest.
The first days fishing was blessed with good weather which was just as well as the forecast for the next day was awful, so it was all to do on the first day out. The ladies did themselves proud and landed a striped marlin and a blue marlin. Denise Larmer aboard ‘Te Kotuku’ weighed in a small stripy and Jorda Pike-Taylor fishing from ‘Jewel’ skippered by Andrew Pedersen landed a blue of 149.9kg using 24kg line. The fish took a pink and blue Moldcraft lure in about 230m of water off the Wekarua, and took just under an hour to boat. This fish was the heaviest of the day winning a jelly-tip rod and bait-feeder reel and a pair of Ugly Fish sunglasses from Kilwell Sports. The prizes not won were mostly lucky drawn and there were 39 lucky angler draws for all kinds of prizes supplied by our numerous sponsors. The main lucky draw of the evening was for a Blue Lagoon cruise given by Trixie Newton United Travel of Kerikeri, with $500 for air fares from the fishing club. Ten ladies were drawn and each received a bottle of wine, then they were whittled down to one lucky prize winner – Kathleen Nixon.
The promised bad weather arrived during the second morning, with high winds and rain which heaped up the swells out to sea. A fair number of teams had a look outside the harbour, but didn’t stay out too long in the ‘lumpy’ sea, favouring a spot of harbour fishing instead. No marlin were caught, but some good kingfish and several kahawai were brought to the weigh-station. Ann Cull aboard ‘Reel Passion’ skippered by Mark Hoare landed the heaviest kingfish of 15.6kg on 15kg line from the Cavalli Islands, and the heaviest kahawai was brought in by Karren (Els) Ericsson aboard ‘Giverny’, a fish of 2.56kg on 8kg line and squid bait. It has been a ‘sharky’ season so far and this contest was no exception with several species tagged and released by the ladies of the deep – mako, blue, hammerhead and bronze-whaler.
Fishing was over and now it was prizes and fun time...... the contest always has a theme for fancy dress and this year it was ‘denizens of the deep’ and we had some great costumes – lots of jellyfish, SpongeBob and friends made an appearance, as did shipwrecked pirates from the bottom of the sea. The best fancy dress was judged to be a trio of jellyfish from ‘Te Kotuku’. The crews had also composed some good poem and the funniest was sung to a well known tune by the ladies from ‘Trieste’. Richard Whittaker from Catch NZ in the Kerikeri high street presented the trophies for the final prize-giving and several were awarded for Jorda’s blue marlin which earnt her the Seamount prize, Hair by Chris Trophy, Dutton and Donna Watson Trophies, the Kingfish Lodge Trophy and Weighstation Trophy sponsored by Gemtime Jewellers, which was presented along with a stunning pearl necklace. The Gemtime Jewellers Trophy for the most tagged billfish and shark was also accompanied by a pearl necklace and was won by Skye Kerr who tagged and released two bronze whalers. The much sought after Calcutta auction prize was won by the buyer of ‘Jewel’ who landed the heaviest gamefish of the contest in lieu of any striped marlin being caught – a very happy Terry Lay, skipper of ‘Christina’.
Prize givings were over and then it was party time till late with dancing to DJ Venom. Please support our sponsors for this contest who were Kilwell Sports, Bryce Sims Electrical, Gemtime Jewellers, Catch NZ, Kingfish Lodge, Wet & Forget, Lion Red, Palmco, Doubtless Bay Beauty, the Whangaroa Sport Fishing Club, Snooks and Lola Fuller, Trixie Newton United Travel, Kahlua II team, Clarins, Darlin Imports, Hillary Sheard, Redwoods Dental, Ace Dressmaking, Unichem Pharmacy, Santeez, Apple Streetwear, Body Divine, Errol Rogers, Taipa Bay Resort, Seamounts Ltd, Hair by Chris, Living Nature, Youngman Richardson & Co., and New World in Kerikeri for a beautiful hamper.
Full results can be found on the club's website at: www.whangaroasportfishingclub.co.nz and the theme for next year’s contest is ‘tropical shipwreck’.
Whangaroa Sport Fishing Club’s One Base Contest 2012
As much as the contest was blue marlin, blue marlin, blue marlin last year, it was all striped marlin this year with 63 either weighed or tagged and released, making for a contest full of action. The shark species were also making an appearance with 7 blue shark and 12 mako tagged and released. The weather could not have been better with hardly any wind and calm sea conditions and with the fish action from around 120 to 170m from the Cavallis and northwards, especially off Doubtless Bay and Cape Karikari.
Day 1 was sponsored by Kilwell Sports and was a slow day fish wise which eased us into the contest, with 5 stripys, a mako and a mahimahi in the tally. Some of Kilwell’s fabulous prizes of rods and reels, mono, lures, tag poles and fish bats were won and some lucky drawn. The fish of the day was a striped marlin of 112.2kg caught on 24kg line by Allen Entwisle aboard ‘Giverny’. He tempted this fish with a Hooker lure trolled off Doubtless Bay. The launches ‘Bacchus’, ‘Marlin Blue’ and ‘Moet’ all tagged a marlin and got off to a good start for the billfish section of the tournament and its Coruba Trophy.
Day 2 was also sponsored by Kilwell and was a good day for catching fish with 14 stripys, a blue and mako shark and 2 albacore tuna. The top fish for this day was a striped marlin of 117.2kg caught by Mitch Anderson on 24kg line from the vessel ‘Saltiga’ with a Pakula sprocket from out the back of Stephenson’s Island. Seven of Kilwell’s pacific lures were given away to the anglers tagging and releasing their stripys. The team aboard ‘Marlin Blue’ put in a very good day with Corrin Stephens tagging 1 stripy and Ian Donaldson landing a brace of stripys which put this team in the lead for the billfish section.
Day 3 was sponsored by Lion Breweries who put forward lots of daily prizes including cooler bags, landing nets, t-shirts and hats. The fish of the day was a stripy landed by Geoff Naismith aboard ‘Finito Magic’ whose fish weighed 109.4kg taken from off the Cavalli Islands. A good sized yellowtail kingfish was also weighed in by Andy Farmer aboard ‘KC’ at 15.28kg caught on 6kg line. After day three’s fishing the crew of ‘Marlin Blue’ were still in the lead in the billfish section and several boats had all tagged 1 shark each for an equal first placing. The night was a stay away night so boats ranged out further than their normal ‘return to base’ allowed.
Day 4 was again Kilwell’s and it had a huge tally of fish which included many tagged and released from the previous day, which included 16 stripys, 3 blue and 6 mako shark and 2 snapper. Ian on ‘Marlin Blue’ landed 2 more stripys and tagged one, and also had time to tag and release 2 blue sharks, which kept the team at the top of the board in the billfish section and well placed in the shark section also. Michael Leggoe aboard ‘Brenda L’ landed a good snapper of 4.9kg on 8kg line. The heaviest fish of the day was one of Ian’s fish which weighed 135.4kg and which was the heaviest of the competition so far. The marlin took a skipjack tuna off Cape Karikari where the crew also had a shot at a black marlin as well.
Day 5 was sponsored by Advance Trident Ltd. who put up prizes of spotlights, fish finders and fixed and mobile radios. Again the competition was fierce with another 24 striped marlin and several sharks. The fish of the day was a stripy weighed in by Aaron French at 132.4kg from the launch ‘Sublime’ caught from behind Stephenson’s Island. After the daily prizes it was time to award trophies for the whole contest and the outstanding launch of the contest without doubt was ‘Marlin Blue’, who won the Coruba Trophy for the team with the most points in the billfish section and also took out the Marlin Hotel Trophy for the top team in the shark section. Well done to the team Ian and Corrin and skipper Brooke Ebdale for a well fished contest and they fully celebrated with all the rum they won! The boat also had the heaviest striped marlin and won the Calcutta prize money for the buyer of the boat which just happened to be Ian, I think the crew were the happiest crew in New Zealand that night. You can see all the trophies they won and who won all the other trophies on our website at: www.whangaroasportfishingclub.co.nz. The next competition is the fun-filled Ladies Contest with a theme this year of ‘Denizens of the Deep’ which takes place on Friday and Saturday the 2nd and 3rd of March.
Our many thanks go out to all the people who run the contest, help with all the work involved and especially our sponsors who were: Kilwell Sports, Advance Trident Ltd., Lion Breweries, Luke’s Cafe, Sands Marine, Bryce Sims Electrical, Hooker Fishing Tackle, Tesa Marine Electronics, Pacific Harbour Lodge, Seamounts Ltd., Marlin Hotel, Kahlua II, Wet & Forget, Mangonui Hotel, & NZMarlin.co Clothing.
Whangaroa Latest
Whangaroa waters produced some good kingfish early in the season during our kingfish contest, with two fish in the 30kg range being weighed in during July, with a total of 44 kingis on the tally board currently. John Gregory aboard his launch ‘Primetime’ also got an early start with the broadbill, tagging and releasing 5 fish throughout the last few days of July off Cape Karikari and with the largest estimated at 220kg. John also tagged and released a thresher shark in the same location estimated to be 200kg in December. The striped marlin have appeared but are far and few between yet (25th Jan) with 7 on the board and the heaviest at 107.8kg caught by our Redwoods Dental jackpot winner Roger Cairns from Kingfish Lodge. He landed his stripy from Lodge boat ‘Serendipity’ on the 18th Jan in 120m, NE of Stephenson’s Island with a Hooker lure. The recent Juniors Contest saw the team aboard ‘Senator’ – Baily McIntyre and Jesse McCarthy-Tell tagging and releasing several mako and blue shark off Flat Island and Cone Rock using cut skipjack baits. Another junior angler Jesse Ace aboard ‘Lady Luck’ hooked into the kingfish at the Cavalli Islands using live baits with his biggest fish weighing 15.12kg. The next contest is the 5-day One Base on 11th to 15th February and the 2-day fun Ladies Tournament on 2nd-3rd March with the theme – “Denizens of the Deep”.
Warren Hay Marine Great Snapper Classic
The bigger fish no longer dominate the fishing scene this time of year and so it was time to target a smaller species in the Great Snapper Classic competition held from the Whangaroa Sport Fishing Club and sponsored by Warren Hay Marine of Whangarei and Team Daiwa.
There were a fair number of entrants for this competition who braved the soggy elements for a weekends fishing. They enjoyed a snapper fish with the possibility of winning prizes from the Coleman range of goods including air beds, sleeping bags, chilly bins and gazebos sponsored by Warren Hay Marine, and rods and reels from Team Daiwa. There were two major prize sections for catches on monofilament and braid to encompass those fishos who love fishing with braid but are normally excluded from competitions using this line. There was also a major lucky angler draw of a Coleman Road Trip BBQ which was won by Stu Sheard, skipper of ‘Kahlua II’. The anglers managed to land a good number of fish with the biggest weighing in at 6.3kg. This fish was caught by Ron Barker aboard ‘Aftica’ with a live koheru, at the Cavalli Islands, on a 10am bite. Mike Butt also aboard ‘Aftica’ landed a fish of 4.8kg using kahawai bait at the Cavallis and on the afternoon bite at 1.15pm. The 3rd heaviest fish was 4.64kg caught by junior angler Ben Harrison aboard ‘Hot Gossip’ skippered by the sponsor Warren Hay. He won himself a Daiwa Coastal rod and Sealine spinning reel, and braid. The average weight of the fish caught was 3.26kg and Dianne Sands from ‘Provider’ won a Coleman gazebo for landing the fish closest to that weight.
Full results and photos can be found on our web-site at www.whangaroasportfishingclub.co.nz. Our next competition is the hotly contested light tackle contest held on Queen’s Birthday weekend. See you on the weigh-station ..............
Whangaroa’s Classic Charity Competition
The Whangaroa Sport Fishing Club along with major sponsors International Paints and Burnsco held their annual competition for the classic boats to raise money for the Whangaroa Health Services Trust mobile clinic. This competition is held especially for the older boats on the water to help raise money for this vital service which takes healthcare out into local communities in Northland.
For a change the weather was perfect for the vintage craft to ply the waters in search of fish but the bites were not sticking and few fish were caught. The tremendous tallies of recent weeks had petered out and no big game fish were caught. However the efforts of the anglers were still rewarded by lucky drawing the prizes supplied by International Paints and Burnsco, as well as our other generous sponsors; the Marlin Hotel, Luke’s Cafe, Sunseeker Motel, Taipa Bay Resort, CT Automotive, the Kaeoannes Club, Whangaroa Service Club, the 4 Square in Kaeo, New World in Kerikeri, Palmco, Far North Fuels, John Archer Electrical, Sandfords, Kaeo Farm & Fuel, and the Kahlua II team. The Whangaroa Marina Trust also generously gave mooring fees from the competition to the charity funds, which along with donations, game entry fees, auctions and raffles raised nearly $2000 for the mobile clinic. Night – time entertainment included a hilarious and unconventional version of the hang-man game.
The line fishing section and the North Harbour Foundry Trophy was won by Kevin Carr aboard “Diomedea” with a yellowtail kingfish weighing 22.48kg caught on 10kg line. The fish took a live mackerel and fought for 40 minutes before being boated at the Cavalli Islands. The fish is also the heaviest kingfish so far in the season caught by a member of the club so earned Kevin a silver pin.
The club and Whangaroa Health Services Trust thank all the sponsors, especially International Paints and new sponsor Burnsco. The nearest Burnsco store can be found in Beechy Street, Opua where chandlery, clothing, electrical goods, paints and water sports and fishing paraphernalia are stocked. Please support our sponsors for this competition whose generosity enables this annual donation for the mobile clinic to come about.
Warren Hay Marine & Team Daiwa Small Boats Contest at Whangaroa
This year there was a great turn out again for this very popular contest which is held especially for the smaller boats of 8m or less at the water-line. This well-liked contest draws many anglers, and is well sponsored by Warren Hay Marine of Rewa Rewa Road, Whangarei, and Team Daiwa. There was a great array of prizes from the Coleman range of products including a variety of camping and fishing gear, and rods and reels from Daiwa. There was also a major lucky draw prize of a complete outdoor camping set to kit up anyone for the outdoors. Other sponsors for this competition were Sands Marine and Fishing News.
The weather was not too kind to the small boats and their anglers this year but a fair number of fish were landed none-the-less. A striped marlin was tagged and released by veteran angler Roy Sheard who was aboard “Kahlua II” skippered by his son Stu Sheard. The fish took a Moldcraft lure trolled across the Ruahine Reef. There was also 3 mako sharks tagged, 10 kingfish caught, 10 snapper and a kahawai. The heaviest kingfish was caught by Jason Way of Waitakere aboard ‘Kaos II”. It weighed in at 12.28kg and was caught with an orange Asari lure at the Cavalli Islands. The heaviest snapper weighed 5.14kg and was caught by John Rutledge of Kaeo aboard his vessel “Fusion”, also from the Cavallis. Both these anglers won Daiwa Saltist rods and reels.
We thank our sponsors once again, and everyone involved in contributing to the contest. Full results and photos can be seen on our website at: www.whangaroasportfishing club.co.nz.
